Bill Simmons Says Hornets 'Look Like a Playoff Team,' But He's Missing Something

According to NBA analyst Bill Simmons, the Charlotte Hornets look like a playoff team so far. They're 3-1, good for the best record in the Eastern Conference. On paper, that looks like a playoff team.

🎙️ @BillSimmons on the Hornets: "They look like a playoff team... they're holding the fort."

"Brandon Miller had the best game of his probably NBA career yesterday and looked like a Paul Pierce, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown level... like, this is gonna be an All-NBA guy." 👀 pic.twitter.com/FlzHuCGI1l
— r/CharlotteHornets (@HornetsReddit) October 28, 2026

"They look like a playoff team... they're holding the fort," he said. He went on to shout out "really good" Brandon Miller, who had a terrific game to get the Hornets to 3-1. He poured in a career-high 39 points.

"Brandon Miller had the best game of his probably NBA career yesterday and looked like a Paul Pierce, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown level, like this is gonna be an All-NBA guy," he said.

Maybe Simmons believes the Hornets can get better when Kon Knueppel, Coby White, and Grant Williams return. That is going to happen, so stacking some early wins while shorthanded is a good way to survive and give themselves a shot at staying relevant later on.

Simmons did lament the fact that the Hornets are having to rely so much on Dennis Schröder, especially at the end of these close games. But, Simmons believes, if they can just stay afloat at .500 until they're full-strength, they could sneak into the playoffs.

But so far, the Hornets haven't beaten any good teams. The Atlanta Hawks are the only playoff team from a year ago they've faced, and they beat them by nearly 50 points. The wins have been ugly wins over bad teams.

The Hornets do exactly one thing well, and it's rebounding. That does translate well to winning, but when they start playing actual good NBA teams, like the Detroit Pistons tonight, that won't fly. They won't survive the league's 25th-ranked offense paired with a middle-of-the-road defense.

The Hornets are winning with the power of friendship and rebounding. pic.twitter.com/sVcILwHi8K
— Doug Branson - Subscribe to Every Hornets Boxscore (@DougBransonLOH) October 27, 2026

Look at the above. It is abysmal. They're good at making free throws, but does that matter when they literally attempt the fewest free throws in the NBA? They are averaging 17.3 FTs per game, which is just under half what the NBA-leading Chicago Bulls attempt.

They're good at rebounding, make no mistake, but that is literally all. It's miraculous that they are 3-1, and that record would imply they could make the playoffs, but the underlying numbers are soul-crushing.

Simmons is right that they will be better with Knueppel and White, but he is absolutely wrong about the Hornets looking like a playoff team.

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